Certain forms of data may be utilized to represent a hierarchy. A hierarchy is a general term that can be used to describe an arrangement of entities at various levels within a given structure. A hierarchy may be utilized to describe many types of phenomena, organizations, structures, processes, etc. For example, a business may be represented by an organization chart in which the various levels of the business may be defined by associated functions, products, locations, etc. Thus, for a given entity in a given level within the hierarchy, there may be related entities above, below, or at the same level.
In hierarchical structures, it is often the relationships and connections between the various entities that allow one to understand the hierarchy structure and make determinations about how a particular entity fits into the structure. A need exists to utilize the hierarchical interrelations to provide information about a given hierarchy, branch, or entity in the hierarchy.